Vision of the future

Tierce could just as easily have called down on the comm with news of their spy search; the speaker focus was set so that no one but Disra could hear. To have come down personally implied that something had gone seriously wrong...

Tierce reached the desk and handed Disra his datapad. And something had indeed gone seriously wrong.

Enemy spies identified as former New Republic generals Han Solo and Lando Calrissian plus an unidentified man with cyborg head implant. Subjects were spotted and identified at the corner of Regisine and Corlioon, but have broken surveillance and escaped. Capital Security is currently attempting to reestablish contact.

Disra looked up at Tierce, saw the hard edge to the Royal Guardsman's eyes. 'I don't like getting reports like this,' he said darkly. 'What exactly is the lieutenant doing about it?'

'They're all working on it,' Tierce said. 'They seem to be doing their best.'

'Is there a problem?' Pellaeon spoke up. His question was addressed to Disra, but his eyes—and his attention— were clearly on Tierce. 'Perhaps you'd like to see to it personally.' Disra ground his teeth again. Yes, he very much wanted to see what was going on up there. But Pellaeon wouldn't have offered to let him squirm off the hook, even temporarily, unless he had some devious plan of his own in mind.

He suppressed a smile as it struck him. Of course—Pellaeon wanted the chance to pull a quick private interrogation on Tierce, and was trying to get the Moff out of the way. And it was now equally clear that the hope of dangling that precise bait in front of him was precisely Tierce's reason for delivering the message personally. 'Thank you, Admiral,' Disra said, getting to his feet. 'I believe I will. Major Tierce, perhaps you'll keep the Admiral and his party company until I return.'

'Me, sir?' Tierce asked, giving the visitors a simpleminded, wide-eyed expression. 'Why, certainly, sir. If the Admiral doesn't mind.'

'Not at all,' Pellaeon said softly. 'I'd be delighted.'

'I'll be back soon,' Disra promised. 'Enjoy yourselves. Both of you.' Thirty seconds later he was back in the situation room. 'What in the name of Vader's teeth happened?' he demanded.

'Calm yourself, Your Excellency,' Thrawn said, his eyes flashing warningly at Disra. 'We've only lost them temporarily.'

Disra glared at the other, biting back a blistering retort. If this mess was the con man's fault, he was going to nail him to the wall. 'May I inquire how something like this could happen?'

'Solo and Calrissian are combat veterans, highly experienced at survival,' Thrawn said calmly.

'The security men they came up against were neither.' He shrugged, a subtle movement of shoulders beneath the white uniform. 'Actually, it was rather instructive, pointing up as it did some obvious deficiencies in Capital Security's training procedures. We'll have to remedy that.'

'I'm sure they'll be delighted to have your input,' Disra said, looking over at the status board. An overview of the city was currently displayed, along with the locations of all the Capital Security forces scattered around it. 'Wouldn't it make more sense to concentrate our surveillance on the spaceport?

They're probably trying to get back to their ship.'

'I'm sure they are,' Thrawn agreed. 'However, if they arrive to find a ring of stormtroopers blocking their path, they'll simply find an alternative way off Bastion.'

'I suppose you're right,' Disra said reluctantly. Tierce's argument, undoubtedly. Most likely his exact words, too; Disra could practically hear the Guardsman's characteristic inflections in the con man's voice. 'May I ask what you suggest we do, then?'

Thrawn turned his glowing red eyes toward the status board. 'The first step in catching a sentient prey is to think as he does,' he said. Again, words that sounded straight out of Tierce's mouth. 'What was their mission here, and how did they intend to accomplish it?'

'How about sabotage?' Disra gritted. 'That sound like a likely mission?'

'No,' Thrawn said firmly. 'They wouldn't send men like Solo and Calrissian in as saboteurs. Spies, perhaps, but not saboteurs.'

'Admiral Thrawn?' one of the troopers spoke up from his station. 'I've got a partial backcheck on the targets now. We've got a droid download that shows they've spent the past three days in the Imperial Library.'

'Very good,' Thrawn said, looking back at Disra. His head tilted fractionally toward an unoccupied corner of the room—

'I'd like to speak with you a moment, Admiral,' Disra said, picking up on the cue. 'Privately, if I may.'